Endings and beginnings
by Fluffernutter8
Summary: Mishaps occur when Angel reappears after three years...in the Jeffersonian lab. Angel meets Buffy again, and the Squint Squad. Chaos, humor and friendship ensue. Post-Chosen, post-NFA, inserted mid-season 2 of Bones. B/A, B/B. ABANDONED. Sorry.
1. Chapter 1

1Alrighty, you guys are in for a weird one. A triple TV crossover: Bones, Angel and Buffy. Supernatural and science meet. Will anyone survive? Post NFA (ergo, post-Chosen), spoilers for all Buffy and Angel. Buffy/Angel, Bones/Booth, slight Jack/Angela (in the sense that they will be mentioned as a couple). Spike, Illyria and Gunn will be present, as well as Willow and Xander. Oh, and Connor (Hey, he redeemed himself in Never Fade Away). Warning: I have not watched seasons 5-7 of Buffy. I know the basic plotlines, but I don't know enough about it to not make mistakes. Please feel free to correct me when I get facts wrong. I will be glad to make changes. But regardless, THERE WILL BE NO SPIKE/BUFFY. I can't stress enough how much that pair makes me want to gag. Just think of Connor and Cordy doing it and you might get some slight impression. That was part of the reason that I stopped watching Buffy. I defected to Angel, a fact that I'm slightly ashamed of, but not enough to watch Buffy and Spike together. Buffy and Angel live on in my mind, which is why I'm writing about them and not Buffy and Spike. Anyway, this has been very long, and I doubt anyone is actually reading this so, onwards and upwards.

Disclaimer: If I owned it, there would be pictures of Buffy and Angel on every bus. As there aren't, I don't own it. And vice versa.

BABBBABBBABB

His home had never been loud, so Jack Hodgins was not disturbed by the quiet of the lab on a Saturday morning. He knew Zack was. Growing up with a big family, the Addy house was always active and noisy, so although Zack appreciated the silence, it unnerved him slightly. But Zack wasn't here now; it was only Hodgins and a young lab tech named Fred. The two exchanged greetings as Hodgins made his way to his workstation. Usually Dr. Brennan would be here, working on a new (or, just as possibly, old) skeleton. But this morning Angela had dragged Brennan out to a new shop to get... something. Hodgins wasn't too clear on the details, he just provided the cash.

Truthfully, if Hodgins had his way, he wouldn't be here either. But the great, conceited, oafish bureaucrats who ran the Jeffersonian had designed paperwork that he had to fill out. He could have pulled out his rich donor club membership but it was not in his nature to ask for preferential treatment, especially based on his family's money. So he grabbed a cup of coffee and set to work. Beetles had never looked less interesting as he filled out the form describing the evidence they provided for the case.

It was around an hour later that he next looked up. Bright sunlight streamed through the windows and bounced off the glass and chrome surrounding him. He stretched a crick in his neck as two deliverymen came through the door carrying (wonder of wonders) a new corpse.

"Just put it on the table." Hodgins commanded, pointing to Dr. Brennan's table. The two men did as were told and one held out a clipboard for Hodgins to sign. As they turned to go, the other man turned and said, "By the way, the file's being faxed to you. And watch out. This is a weird one."

"We'll be careful." Hodgins smirked. This lab had seen everything. He doubted that they could be really shocked anymore. Although, then again, killers did tend to come up with new ways to murder every day, which is why they still had jobs.

Determined to think more cheerfully, Hodgins glanced furtively around. There was no reason to call Dr. Brennan. The corpse would be still be here and still be dead when she came in that afternoon, or the next day, or Monday even, if Angela had her way. So this left him and Fred and the lab... and its brand new music system.

_It would be a shame to waste so many privately donated dollars by not utilizing the technology at our fingertips._ Hodgins laid out his excuses for playing music on the job, just in case Brennan showed up and caught him in the act. _And anyway, it's not like I'm actually working with evidence. It's just some paperwork. Really, really boring paperwork that I needed a little background noise for help...focusing._

He slipped in a CD, he wasn't even sure which one, from the extensive collection he kept in his bag, and adjusted the volume. As the opening song floated into the very sterile lab air, a familiar voice from behind him said "Can you go to track seven?"

"Sure thing," Hodgins replied, and as the first notes drifted out, he began to grin. "_Mandy_, Booth? I never had you pegged for a closet romantic. And anyway, I didn't hear you come in. Did you sleep in Brennan's office? Cause Ange would have a field day with..." Hodgins spun in his lab chair to face his coworker and his voice died in his throat.

As children, we believe in fantasy. To some degree, each child believes that somewhere out there is a Santa Claus or a monster under the bed. As we grow up, we usually lose most of that fear. But in some cases the feeling stays, lurking beneath the surface. Jack Hodgins had not completely lost his belief that aliens and fantastical creatures existed; he had retained quite a lot of it actually. And that was the only reason that he did not pass out as the body on the lab table sat up and spoke to him. His paranoia kept him alert enough to fumble for his cell phone and call a number he had hoped he would only dial for pranks. As the person on the other end picked up, Hodgins barked out "Booth, man, you better get down here, ASAP." He snapped the phone shut. This went way beyond weird and into the realm of unbelievable.

SC (This was borrowed from Myrah of the Maximum Ride fandom. Just thought it would be nice to credit her)

SC

SC

On the rare occasion that Temperance "Bones" Brennan took a day off, she liked to spend it relaxing. She would, for example, read or take a bubble bath or write a new chapter of her novel. But, as much as she loved her best friend, shopping with Angela did not even come close to being on her list of peaceful activities. Before that morning, Bones had not thought it possible for a human being to make a sound that high. Angela had one again proven her wrong.

"Sweetie, this is perfect!" she shrieked.

"Perfect for what?" Brennan asked, staring at the piece of fabric dangling from Angela's fingers.

"Perfect for knocking Booth's socks off!!" Angela told her, shoving her toward a dressing room.

"Why would I want to knock...oh, it was a figure of speech. But Ange, I'm not interested in Booth romantically. We're just friends. I don't need to wear sexually promiscuous clothing to impress him."

Angela rolled her eyes and started to argue back, but Brennan's cell phone beat her rebuttal. The tinny notes of 'Hot Blooded' caused Angela to raise an eyebrow.

"Booth...personalized his own ringtone." Brennan admitted, annoyed at the absent man in question for giving Angela more fuel for her Brennan/Booth train. "Just let me answer this."

"Fine, but if he says that he needs you for..." Angela began but Brennan cut her off.

"A case? (Please?) Where? The lab? Okay. I'll be there." Brennan ended the call and got her bag. "Ange, I have to go to the lab. Booth said something weird is going on."

"But Bren, what about our girls day? Shopping, ice cream, a little Sex and the City?" Angela whined.

"I have no idea what that means, but you'd better come too. Booth said Hodgins called him in and apparently he sounded a little freaked out."

Angela was immediately on the alert. "Why didn't you say so? Come on, I'll drive."

SC

SC

SC

"Hodgins, this had better be good!" Booth shouted, striding into the lab. It wasn't like Hodgins had actually interrupted anything, but he didn't have to tell him that. It was good to keep up the appearance that he was semi-normal and sociable and not so totally head-over-heels in love with his partner that he spent their time apart moping that she wasn't with him.

He bounded up the steps, swiping his ID card on the way and took in the scene in front of him. Lab intact, Hodgins sitting on a rotating chair by his computer- all completely normal. Man who could have been his identical twin sitting up in a halfway unzipped body bag- so abnormal that Booth had to laugh.

"Okay, Hodgins what's going on?"

Hodgins opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a voice from below the platform.

"Angel?" One of the squints, a pretty young woman with a slight Texas twang who Booth had met once or twice came up behind him. "Angel, is that you?"

"Illyria? Or have my brainy coworkers found a way to get Fred back?" As if things could get any more strange, the body spoke.

The squint's voice deepened slightly into one shivering with ancient power. "It is distasteful that you wish that the feeble shell would come back. And I find it degrading to have to work in this place and wear this pitiful human suit. But Spike says that I must do my part to help. Their frail mortal selves need sustenance. There was a time when they would have been satisfied to eat the fungus off my feet but that time..."

"Okay, I know who you are," the man chuckled, cutting her off. "But where am I? Is this the rebuilt Wolfram and Hart?"

"No, it's the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington DC," came the clear logical voice of Temperance Brennan as she strode in. "Booth, what's going on?"

Booth had rarely been so glad to see his Bones in his life. He had been tossed into a strange world where squints seemed to think they were higher powers (as if they didn't already, but most of them at least kept their voices normal while they insulted the regular Joes) and bodies came back to life and looked exactly like him. He could use Bones' calm rationality right now.

"Booth, Hodgins, what's going on?" Brennan asked again.

"Um, the body came to life." Hodgins finally croaked. "I was sitting here doing paperwork and these guys dropped him off and next thing I knew he was sitting up and talking." He abruptly hit himself on the forehead. "Oh, wait I get it. It's the prank from the guys in Paleontology. They usually do it in October, but they thought they could switch it to May and pull a fast one on Medico-Legal." He turned towards the door and shouted "It's not gonna work you guys." He faced his companions and muttered "This is gonna be a hard one to beat."

"Jack, we're the only ones in the lab." Angela told him, sidling closer to him. "Well us and..." She trailed off, not knowing what to call the seemingly reanimated corpse.

"Angel," he introduced himself.

"Us and Angel." Angela finished, thinking privately how well the name suited him.

There was an awkward silence. Fred/Illyria slipped off to go call Spike. He needed to know what was unfolding here. The rest of the group seemed to be suspending reality for a moment. It was the only way to cope with the idea that maybe there was actually a dead man who had come back to life in front of them. Finally Angel spoke.

"Do you guys have any clothes I could borrow?"

His request woke Booth up. He had seen some pretty weird things in his time, but this was just over the top. His sniper senses were on high alert. "Yeah, I keep a change of clothes in Bones' office. I'll go get them." He jogged off.

"Booth keeps clothes in your office?" Angela asked Brennan pointedly, always willing to be distracted, even from supernatural occurrences, to check on the status of her favorite non-couple.

"Yeah, just in case we have to you know, pull an all-nighter. To help solve a case." she added hastily, seeing the scheming look on Angela's face.

Angel looked around at them. They reminded him of his own team: fighting evil, but still managing to find time to tune into the ongoing office soap opera. "This might seem like a weird question, but..."

"Oh, believe me, nothing could be considered weird now." Hodgins remarked. When everyone looked at him, he held up his hands defensively. "Just saying."

"I know this is gonna make me sound completely clueless," Angel continued, "But what's the date? And the year?"

"It's May 19, 2007." Angela answered, but regretted it almost immediately as Angel's face crumpled.

It had been three years, precisely, to the day, since the battle in LA. Illyria had obviously survived, as, apparently, had Spike. Not the two members of his team that he would have chosen, but since when did he have choices in his life or even in his unlife? His heart hurt at the thought of what he might have missed. Connor could be married by now. Or he could be dead. And Buffy... Buffy might have moved on, as he had always wanted her to. Maybe the cookies were finally done and he wasn't the one enjoying them.

Booth's return pulled Angel from his melancholy reverie. "These should be about your size...or exactly your size, since we seem to be carbon copies of each other." He handed over boxers, a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Angel accepted them with a nod, not failing to notice the drastic difference in taste in clothing between himself and his look-alike. He then realized the impossibility of his situation. He was naked and in a body bag. The latter problem had a simple solution: he could unzip it and climb out. But he didn't want to get dressed in front of the two ladies present. It was ironic. Two hundred and eighty years on earth, countless sexual encounters and he still couldn't bring himself to get dressed in front on a couple of women.

Realizing the cause of his discomfort, Angela turned around, despite her formidable wicked side wanting to see if he was as well muscled below the waist as his top seemed to promise. Understanding that Brennan was not going to think to do the same, Angela drew her out of the room, leaving the three men alone. Angel got up, despite the protests of his unused muscles, and promptly fell down again. Booth caught him and between the two of them, Angel was able to dress himself. He boosted himself back onto the examining table, realizing that he would not be able to support himself. The men stayed in uncomfortable silence until Brennan and Angela reentered the room. As always, Angela took it upon herself to relieve the tension.

"We haven't been properly introduced, have we? I'm Angela Montenegro, that's Jack Hodgins, Seeley Booth and Temperance Brennan." she said, gesturing to each in turn. Correctly determining that this was not going to be enough to break the ice, she asked, "Is Angel your first name or your last?"

"Neither. It's more of a... nickname." was his brief reply.

Angela racked her brains for a new topic but none was needed because at that precise moment, the lab doors swished open and 110 pounds of blonde muscle flashed through them, stopping short below the platform. Another figure, a male, stood just inside the doorway. They both faced the group crowded around the lab table and they spoke simultaneously in the same tone of wonderment.

"Angel?" "Dad?"

A/N: Ok, first chapter done! It was actually longer than expected. Four pages and a bit, although I'm sure that was helped by the huge author's note at the beginning. I know the Bones characters were a little OOC, but I was thinking that maybe they would be in shock. Hugs and muffins to all of you who:

Review!

Guess who the two people who came in at the end are.

Spot the change in Angel. (Hint: something he can do that he couldn't do before.)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I decided to post a chapter hopefully every Sunday, so here's to the start of a new ritual.

Disclaimer: Oh, darn, my certificate of ownership is gone from my safe. Guess that means I don't own it again. Shoot!

_Three years earlier..._

They found Gunn first. Already horribly weak, a demon smashed his legs ten minutes into the battle, rendering him immobile. He was knocked into a pile of garbage bags in an alley, which had probably saved his life. The heavy trash bags had pressed on the wounds in his chest and stomach and stopped the blood flow there, and his hurt legs kept him from getting up and aggravating the wounds further. One of the new Slayers, a younger girl named Jenn, was the one to find him. She called over one of the witches to help him and then threw herself back into battle.

Xander was surprised to find himself fighting back-to-back with Spike. Seven years friendship with Buffy had taught him not to be shocked by anything, but regardless, this dazed him for a moment.

"How long have you been back?!" he shouted over the clanging of their swords.

"Nearly a year now." Spike managed to answer while skewering a large, hairy, gray thing.

"And you didn't tell us? You didn't think that maybe she would want to know?!"

"She'd moved on. I saw her in Rome with the Immortal. And anyway, can't beat an exit like mine. After that, I expected she would at least wait until my charred corpse had cooled off before getting another guy. It took her long enough to get over Angel."

"Speaking of which, where is Captain Courageous?" Xander asked nastily, not allowing a battle to make him miss a chance to insult the guy who he had hated since age sixteen.

"Angel was over there, last I saw him." Spike responded, gesturing vaguely to his right while stabbing another demon. Through the battle haze, Xander distantly registered that for once, Spike did not share his snide tone when speaking about Angel.

"Oh, so the Golden Boy..." Xander trailed off as he finally looked where Spike had pointed, " Went right into the center of a demon horde? Is he insane!?"

"If you ask me, though people rarely do, he's got nothing left to live for. Right before the battle, he told us that he had to sign away his Shanshu to get us here. Bloody casual 'bout it too: 'Oh, just so you know, I gave away my future happiness so we could die in this battle.' Always the martyr."

"Angel signed away his what?"

"Shanshu. It was this prophesy about a vampire with a soul getting to be human after trials and apocalypses and a bunch of junk. I always thought it was about me, but he's convinced it's him. Although, maybe it was about me the whole time and I'll get it once this is over!" Spike said optimistically.

"Angel gets to be human? How long has this been going on?"

Spike explained the prophesy to him as they cleared the street they were on of demons. The demons, while armed with weapons, were often clumsy and the skilled fighters finished them off relatively easily. But what the enemy lacked in finesse they made up for in numbers. The demons just kept on coming and eventually Xander and Spike were forced to retreat towards the edges of the city where they found Willow and the Slayers holding hands in a large circle.

"What is she..." Spike started, but was cut off as Xander dragged him to an abandoned building.

"She's harnessing the energy of the Slayers. We had it planned as a last resort, in case there were just too many demons to kill one by one."

"Good for you, Red." Spike cheered as at least three quarters of the remaining demons fell and turned to dust.

Together, Angel's crew, the Scoobies and the Slayers were able to finish off the battle within another few hours. They thought about returning to the Hyperion to regroup, but Spike pointed out that the hotel, which was now property of Wolfram and Hart, could be bugged. They instead made their base in the recently rebuilt original offices of Angel Investigations. Illyria joined them on the way there, looking slightly drained, but cleansed of her anger. Once they had arrived, everyone was expecting some nostalgia until they realized that none of the original members of the AI team were there. They had a moment of silence for the fallen, but quickly got down to business.

"Where's Angel?" Buffy demanded, "I can't believe he didn't call me for something like this!"

"I can tell you something about that," Spike volunteered, "A couple weeks ago Angel called Giles for help saving Fred and, shock and horror, apparently you don't trust him anymore. Guess he just didn't want to be shot down again."

"What?" Buffy whispered and then whirled to face her friends. "Did you know about this?!"

Willow looked genuinely stunned. "Fred's dead?" she asked. Despite all the death she had seen over the years, the sensation of loss was never dulled. Xander, however, raised his hand guiltily.

"Giles told me about Angel calling."

"And you didn't think to tell me?" Buffy snapped, turning towards Spike, "And you! You let me live with the guilt of letting you die for a _year_. When were you planning on popping around to tell me that you didn't?" She didn't give him a chance to speak though. "Willow, we need to find Angel. Can you do a locator spell?"

"Yeah," Willow replied, wiping away her belated tears for Fred, and setting to work.

But the spell was unsuccessful. It stopped at a large field that, once researched, turned out to be 'ground thrice blessed and thrice cursed'. This overlay of magic blocked even the most powerful of Willow's attempts and hid wherever Angel was. Deeply saddened, the group went back to the city to help with the relief efforts and search for Angel on foot. As everyone walked ahead, Buffy looked over the expanse of land that separated her from Angel and then turned her gaze to the Irish ring on her finger, which was once again placed with the heart facing inwards.

_Present_

The human brain can only handle so much. And a brain as logical as Temperance Brennan's was bound to snap at the thought of so many impossibilities.

"No," Bones said, "This is not happening. There is no way you were dead and now alive and there is no way that your family shows up ten minutes after you "come back from the dead". There is a logical explanation for this. There has to be something..."

She was cut off by the fax machine as it delivered the report that was supposed to accompany Angel's body. Snatching it out, she stomped off to her office to read it. Booth followed, hoping to calm her down.

"I have to apologize for her," Angela said as she swiped her card, allowing the new man and woman to come onto the platform, "She's usually very level headed. But I guess dead bodies waking up on your lab table is bound to freak anybody out."

The people ignored her, intent on getting to Angel. Ten feet from him, the woman broke into a run and practically tackled him as she began to frantically kiss him.

"How long have they been apart?" Angela asked the man who was frozen a few feet from the pair his eyes glued to them.

"Three years," he replied as he tore his eyes away and stuck out his hand, "Hi. I'm Connor, Angel's son."

"Angela," she said as they shook. She wondered briefly about how old he seemed, too old to be Angel's son, but she put it out of her mind. They were already suspending reality, they could suspend it a little more. "And this is my fiancee, Jack."

Connor regarded her curiously. "How did you know they had been separated?"

"I'm the official matchmaker here. I have a sense for these things. And the way she tackled him? He hasn't just been away for the weekend. So what's their story?" She gestured to the couple. They had stopped kissing by now and were just sitting next to each other.

Connor grinned. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Angela grinned back. "Try me."

BABABABABABABA

They had been sitting beside each other silently for two minutes before Buffy touched him again. She gently poked his arm, as if to see if he would disappear.

"You're warm," she said wonderingly. She placed her hand on his cheek and then promptly drew it back and slapped him. "Where have you been?!"

Angel did not seem angry that she had hit him. In fact, his whole being seemed lighter, as if he had been relieved of a burden that had been there as long as she had known him. He took her hand in such a loving way that she melted like she was sixteen again.

"I've been in heaven." he told her simply, "I was being judged and now I'm human."

_My Angel, still a man of very few words. And apparently, he's actually a man now._ As the fact sunk in, Buffy looked at Angel, checking his face for signs of deception. He was serious; he was human. To prove it, he brought the hand he held to his chest. Even through the fabric of his shirt she could feel his heartbeat. But even this new wonder could not deter her questioning.

"What were you doing in heaven?"

"After the battle in LA, the Powers took my soul up there to reevaluate my situation. Believe me, they were not happy that I signed away the Shanshu. They really like their prophesies coming true; gives them prestige." He turned to grin at her, lighting up the world around her. She decided then and there to do whatever it took to make him smile more often. "And they're not too happy with you and Willow either. The 'turning Potentials into Slayers' plan was brilliant, but the PTBs have always been proud of the whole 'one girl in all the world' speech."

Angel was joking with her about being in heaven and the PTBs being angry with her. This had to be some sort of weird dream. Except the metal of the table was cold and she could feel the heat coming from Angel's body. Before she could think anymore, Buffy asked another question. If this was a fantasy, she was going to make it the most accurate and detailed one she could.

"When you say judged, do you mean literally judged?"

His voice became tinged with sadness. "Yeah, with a trial and everything. While I was up there, I got to see some people. I needed witnesses that I'd changed, reformed, that I was truly a warrior for good now so they could act without the prophecy. Jenny came and testified for me, which," he trailed off, swallowed and began again, "it meant a lot. Wes and Doyle also came, to testify and just to visit. And Cordelia stopped by when she wasn't too busy."

He caught her questioning look: what would Cordy have to be busy with? Too many shoe sales and pedicures? "She's a kind of a grief counselor. Surprising, but it works. Something about her complete lack of tact knocks the self-pity out of people who were thrown out of life." He continued with his original story. "I got to apologize to some of the people I've hurt. Some wouldn't talk to me and I don't blame them. I mean, I tortured and killed them or their families. Why should they want to see me? But the ones who would speak to me, I got to tell them I was sorry, to explain, to make them understand."

It was then that Buffy realized this difference in Angel: his guilt was not constantly pressing on him as it had in the past. Being able to ask forgiveness had been cathartic for him.

"So you won the case?" Buffy asked, trying to understand and trying not to be too hopeful. "You're human now?"

Angel chuckled, sending warmth all through her. "I wish it were that simple. I won the chance to prove that I was worthy of becoming human. The consensus was that I had to overcome my biggest weakness: I had to face Angelus. They dumped the two of us in this obstacle course. The goal was to get to the center. It took months, full of magical traps. Angelus has always been smarter than I. He almost outwitted me a hundred times, almost had me beat. But this time, the end was so close that I couldn't give it up. I guess when it came down to it, I had more to gain than he did. When I won, Angelus was banished from me, leaving only the human. And my soul was sent back here. Funny how that works."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"Hey, Bones, wait up." Booth jogged a little faster to keep up with her hurried pace.

"I can't handle this Booth! This file," she waved it in his face, "says that the man sitting out there, talking and meeting his family, has been dead for three years. Found recently in a federal landfill in Los Angeles on the word of the homeless man who picked his already dead pockets and buried him there. They sent him here because apparently, in all those years buried under garbage, he didn't rot away. There is no way that he can be alive. This doesn't just defy logic, it completely destroys it!"

For once Booth didn't know what to say. 'Um, Bones, sorry your entire way of thinking is falling out from beneath your feet once again, but hey, that's the way the cookie crumbles,' didn't quite seem to cut it. And then Bones did something unusual: she turned towards him and touched his arm.

"Booth," she said tentatively, "I think this is one of those times when I need a guy hug."

And he gave it to her. Just a simple hug between friends... friends who were too cowardly to admit that they were in love with each other.

After a very long moment, Brennan stepped back and tucked her hair behind her ears, all the while trying to hang onto his scent. They stood there a little awkwardly until Hodgins ran in.

"Zombie boy and company want you out there. Apparently they're going to explain themselves." He rubbed his hands together. "If this doesn't prove that I'm not crazy, I don't know what does."

Booth rolled his eyes. "I don't care how many people you bring back from the dead, Hodgins. You're still crazy."

A/N: Ok, sorry that sucked. My inspiration kinda dried up. But the good news is that the storyline came back to me (yes, it was lost in the annals of my mind for a while) so now we can really get this moving. More explanations and familiar faces coming up, and one of my favorite scenes so far... and fluff and some angst, which is kinda new for me but hey that's the way it came to me in my dream. Yes, that's where this all came from...and I'm just gonna shut up now. End psycho ramble


	3. Chapter 3

1A very quick A/N: Thank you so much to all those who reviewed! Follow their example!

Disclaimer: There once was a bonny young lass

Who, 'tis said, tried to pass

Stuff off as her own

'Fore she was full grown

And she was tossed into jail: alas!

The moral of this really bad limerick: I don't own them, I just play with 'em.

After a long moment, Connor walked over cautiously.

"Are you two done?" he asked teasingly, before Angel pulled him into a hug. Connor was surprised and stiff for a minute, but then relaxed. They broke apart when they heard Buffy sniff.

"Aw jeez, Buffy, you said you wouldn't cry!" Connor exclaimed.

"Yeah, well you said that you wouldn't hug!" Buffy shot back.

"You two know each other?" Angel asked, confused at their close relationship. The last he had known, the two most important people in his life hadn't met. Buffy and Connor looked at each other and Connor ventured, remembering his relationship with Cordelia, "Don't worry Dad, I haven't stolen your girl."

Angel was quick to reassure him. "No, I didn't think that. It was just...I never got a chance to tell you about each other."

"Don't think you're off the hook about that," Buffy told him, "Actually, it was your being gone that brought us together. Connor came to see me in Rome after the battle in L.A."

_Two years ago..._

Buffy barely heard the knock over the loud sounds of the party. When she did hear it, she thought it was just her imagination. After all, who would be knocking at two AM? But she went to check anyway, glad to have an excuse to get away from the party. She loved her girls, but she was just so tired. Maybe she was getting old.

When she opened the door to see a young man, handsome if travel-worn, she was not surprised. Most of her girls had their fair share of admirers.

"Sorry," she told him firmly, "It's after curfew. Whoever you're here to see can talk to you in the morning."

He ignored her and said desperately "They told me that you loved him first."

Buffy's heart skipped a beat. There was only one person who could claim to be her first love and he was MIA. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"I'm his son, Connor." The man seemed lost, like a boy.

"Nice try," Buffy said, unwilling to feel sorry for whoever or whatever was screwing with her feelings. "Vampires can't have children."

"I'm a special case," he replied, smirking a little. The smirk was what convinced her. There was only one person in the world who could pass on that little half-smile that took her breath away.

"Okay," she said, half to him, half to herself. "What do you want?"

"I just want to talk, to get to know him. We didn't really have time."

Buffy glanced back inside to the lights and the party and the fun, and she shut the door behind herself. "Let's go somewhere."

They ended up at a little bar a few streets away, run by an American called Shaky. He poured them two shots, and was about to take the bottle back when Buffy stopped him. "Leave it on the bar." She turned to Connor. "What do you want to know?"

By the time the Buffy and Angel saga was over, the sun had risen and they were halfway through their second bottle.

"I just loved him so much," Buffy sobbed, knocking back a shot and resting her head on the bar, "And I had to kill him. And not even evil him!"

"Hey, you were doing that to save the world," Connor reassured her, patting her head. "I drowned him in the Pacific for three months out of vengeance. He was never anything but nice to me and I hated him." He looked down. "I think he hated me, in the end. I wouldn't blame him. I mean, I drowned him, performed evil rituals, slept with the woman he loved and got her pregnant with a demon that almost destroyed the world. God, how much more of a screw-up could I have been?"

Unbeknownst to her, Buffy was emulating a conversation Angel and Faith had had seven years ago. "Connor, you and I never actually slept together. We hadn't even met before tonight." She was beginning to wonder if getting a twenty year old drunk was such a good idea.

"Oh no, not you, Cordelia." Seeing his mistake, Connor hurried to fix it. "You know, if you ask me, he still really loved you. He had a lot of sketches of you. I found them in his room after the battle."

Buffy sniffed. "Well, he told me to move on and I did. I guess it's only fair that he did too. But Cordelia?!"

Connor bristled. "Hey, what's wrong with Cordelia?"

"It's just that when I knew her, she was a sarcastic, spoiled cheerleader still pretending that she was the May Queen. I guess being with Angel changed her."

"That and the visions. She became a warrior. She was very strong, very noble. Still with the sarcasm, though."

"At least he died knowing that you loved him," Buffy sighed, filling her glass again. "The last time we spoke, I practically told him that I loved Spike. And then my friends told him that I thought he was evil." She swung her barstool to face Connor. "Do you think that he knows? Wherever he is, do you think he knows that I love him and that I trust him?"

Connor swished some alcohol in his mouth and swallowed. "He definitely does. After everything you went through together, he knew you." He slammed his shot glass onto the bar. "We never really got to know each other. The only time I could be sure that he didn't hate me was when we were under a spell to love one another."

Buffy touched his arm. "Hey, he could never hate you. Children were one of the things that Angel wanted the most. He wouldn't throw that away. Angel was very understanding of people who had made mistakes because he had made so many himself in his past."

"Mmmm," Connor agreed. They sat in silence, savoring the bite of the liquor, until Buffy jumped up.

"Okay, pity party over. Do you want to come back to the Academy?"

_Present..._

"You two sat in a bar together until sunrise?" Angel asked, somewhat amused.

"Yeah," Buffy said. "Connor here was lucky he came when he did. Another week and I would have been in DC."

"You went from Rome to Washington?" Angel asked. " You seemed to love Rome. I mean, not that I saw you there but..."

Buffy giggled. "It's okay, Angel. Spike told me all about your little Italian adventure. And because you're too polite and/or too uncomfortable to ask, I'm not seeing anyone right now."

Angel let out a breath. "Why? Not that I'm not glad," he hurried to explain, "But you seemed to like the Immortal. Everyone in Rome couldn't stop raving about how great he was."

Buffy and Connor looked at each other. "There's a reason for that." Buffy told him. "And that reason is why I broke up with him." Seeing Angel's confused expression, she continued. "I met one of his old girlfriends. It didn't bother me that she used to date him, and we got to talking. She asked me if he still did that thing where he put your napkin in your lap at a restaurant. I told her no, and she said it was a shame because it was so cute. Of course, I didn't think that would have been cute, and it raised

my suspicions. So I asked Willow to send me a clarity amulet to help me see what I was missing."

Connor took up the narrative. "Apparently, the Immortal doesn't use magic, per se. He has a kind of a glamour over him, a gloss, that makes people see what they want to see about him. It makes them overlook his faults."

Buffy leaned over to whisper in Angel's ear. "When I put on the clarity charm, some other things became clear to me."

"Like what?"

"Do the words 'cookie dough fudge mint chip' mean anything to you?"

Angel blushed deeply, and Connor changed the subject. "I think we need to tell these people what's going on," he said, indicating Angela and Hodgins.

"Why?" Angel asked.

"It's not like our world is such a big secret anymore." Connor said. "The sun was blocked out in L.A., there was some type of mass hypnosis for everyone to love each other, and an entire town just blew up."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "And people are still living in denial."

"Still," Angel said thoughtfully, "They do deserve to know the truth."

"I'd say we do," Hodgins said, coming up behind them. "I know every theory in the book, and this doesn't fit any of them. What are you guys?"

"It's best if we tell all of you together," Angel answered. "Could you go get the other two?"

When Hodgins returned a few minutes later with Booth and Brennan, Angel, Connor and Buffy explained everything: yes, vampires and demons exist. Angel used to be one and Buffy fights them. They also told the Angel story, the Buffy story, the Buffy and Angel story, the Buffy post-Angel story, the Angel post-Buffy story, the Connor story and all the other stories in their soap operatic world.

Bones was the first to speak. "Have you sought counseling?"

"We thought you might say that," Buffy said calmly. "So we're going to the school where I work."

"Why would that help?" Angela asked.

"You know what?" Booth said in a strange tone, a mix between anger, confusion and composure. "It doesn't matter. We'll just go, and once we've proven they're crazy, we'll get them a shrink. Come on Bones." The two of them strode out to Booth's SUV looking equally bewildered and afraid.

"They don't even know where they're going," Connor pointed out.

"They can follow us," Buffy said leading the group to her car.

Twenty minutes later, everyone was at the DC branch of the Slayer Academy. They had dropped Connor at his dorm, but he was meeting them for dinner that night. The Academy was a sprawling campus, lush with greenery. Four large houses formed a square around a central courtyard. The perfect word to describe it was serene...until they went into the middle of the buildings and found a training session going on. A young girl, about thirteen, was fighting a girl probably five years older than she.

Bones rushed forward but Buffy threw out an arm to stop her. "What are you doing? Is this some sort of barbaric comedy, pitting the weak against the strong for your own enjoyment?"

Angel spoke from behind her. "Don't worry. She's stronger than she looks."

Indeed, a few minutes later the younger teenager had driven the senior to the ground.

Each girl's friends helped her up, and the fighters congratulated each other.

"Good job," a redheaded woman said emerging from the shadows, "Okay, lesson dismissed." She watched the girls walk off before turning towards the newcomers with a squeal.

"Angel!" Willow screamed, "You're back, again."

"And he's human," Buffy told her excitedly.

"Some guys have all the luck," came another voice from inside. A black man wheeled himself down a ramp, specially placed for him, into the courtyard.

Angel was shocked. The last time he had seen Gunn it had looked like he wasn't going to last ten minutes. But then again, their current situation was proof that miracles can happen.

"Charles Gunn," he introduced himself, shaking hands with the bemused newbies before turning to Angel.

"Glad to see that someone made it out," the former vampire said, overcoming his shock, "What've you been doing with yourself?"

"Putting those ill-gotten brains to good use. I'm a public defender now." Gunn chuckled. "The Senior Partners must be mighty pissed right now."

"Good to see you're still fighting the good fight."

"Not to break up this great moment," Booth said, pushing himself into their tight little circle, "But we're still waiting for some answers."

"Oh yeah, Buffy called about you," Willow nodded, "Come here, I've got something all set up."

The Squints and Booth found themselves in a room with a vaguely human, violet blobby thing that appeared to be dead. Bones was the first to approach it. In the absence of her Dictaphone she made her observations aloud to her companions, carefully keeping a scientific composure despite the seemingly obvious proof of the existence of demons. The other three stood with their backs against the wall, somewhat dumbfounded.

"The…subject seems to have an extra digit in the center of each palm. It is covered in a sticky substance…" She continued her external examination, followed by an autopsy.

Meanwhile…

"I don't know how long this will take," Willow said.

"And I don't know if they'll believe us," Gunn added, "I've worked with some forensic scientists lately, and I'd say they're gonna need more proof than a pile of goop that we say is a demon."

"One live demonstration coming up," Buffy said, walking towards one of the buildings.

"And I've got a court date," Gunn told them, starting off in the other direction.

Willow led Angel to a bench and gestured for him to sit. They stayed in silence for a moment before Willow went down to business. "Are you and Buffy, you know, a thing again?"

Angel smirked at her bluntness. "I don't know. We haven't really talked about it. I want to, now that there's nothing to stop us." He took a deep breath. "Does she? Want to get back together I mean? Because judging by the way she jumped on me…"

Willow peered at him for a minute. "Yes," she told him finally, "She wants to get back together. The normal thing didn't work for her. And Spike was just a match from hell. Or I guess it came from heaven." A spasm of anguish crossed Willow's face as she remembered her part in dragging Buffy from heaven but then settled as she continued. "But just know that if you hurt her I have no qualms hurting you too."

Angel gazed steadily back at her. "I have no intention of hurting Buffy again."

The witch sighed. "You never mean to hurt her but you always end up doing it anyway."

Angel nodded, accepting the truth of her statement. "Willow, you have to tell me: what happened to her?"

She stiffened and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "What do you mean?"

He sighed. "There's something different about her. She found out that I erased our day of happiness, and our future together and she wasn't angry. I expected her to kill me over that."

Willow hesitated. "After you…left, Buffy stayed alone in her room for three days. She wasn't crying or punching walls, and she wouldn't let anyone in, not even Dawn. When she came out, she was different. She was quieter but she was eating and sleeping and slaying fine, she didn't run away like the first time you died and everyone liked it so we didn't push. Am I a bad friend Angel? Should I have pushed?" Willow asked anxiously.

"No," Angel told her, "If Buffy wanted to tell you, she would. And if not… well, I'm pretty sure Buffy hasn't become any less stubborn in the last few years."

The two of them relaxed now that the serious talk was done. "Do you still have your strength?" Willow asked curiously.

"Yeah, I got to keep it as a reward for avenging the murder of the Oracles. If I had realized that fulfilling a vengeance debt could get you stuff, I'd have done that a lot more."

"Since you're still strong enough, I want to offer you a position here as a teacher." She said decisively, but than realized her words and blundered back to amend them. "I mean, not that I wouldn't have given you a job if you were just a human. I'm sure that you would still have been a good teacher because you were alive for so long and stuff."

Angel laughed, recalling the shy, awkward girl from Buffy's high school years. She had really grown up since then, though she did have occasional reappearances. "It's alright Willow," he told her, "And I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be a teacher here. I think that I need to get into the real world, have a life that doesn't revolve around demons and fighting evil. Maybe something to do with art," he added as an afterthought.

Willow considered this for a few seconds and then made another offer. "Would you be a Watcher than? It wouldn't be a full time job, just a few hours here and there, training one-on-one with one of the girls."

Angel considered briefly and then nodded. "I'd like that," he said, stretching his legs into the sunlight.

They heard Spike before they saw him, of course. Willow and Angel retreated into the shadows to speak to him and Buffy.

"Peaches," Spike said tersely, "Had a feeling we'd be seeing you again. You're like a bloody Weeble; can't seem to knock you down." He saw the stares pointed in his direction. "What? A vampire's not allowed to go into a toy store anymore?"

Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of Brennan, Booth, Angela and Hodgins.

"I've finished up my examination," Brennan stated, crossing her arms, "And I'm not convinced. All the abnormalities on that corpse could have been faked with extensive technological resources."

As an unspoken answer, Spike stuck his bare arm into the sunlight, wincing as it smoked until his face shifted to his vampire features. Angela shrieked and clutched at Hodgins' arm.

"Is that a vampire?!" Hodgins asked eagerly as Spike retracted his smoking arm.

"Yeah, I'm a vampire," Spike said, "And a right good one. Name's Spike."

"Oh, Spike," Brennan said, nodding sagely, "One of the 'ensouled vampires' characters from your delusions."

Buffy rolled her eyes; people were not usually that hard to convince about the existence of the supernatural. Then again, they usually found out on their own after being attacked. "What will it take for you to see the truth?"

Brennan thought for a moment. "I want to examine 'Spike'," she declared.

"Whoa, no!" Spike jumped in, "I'm not letting doctor lady cut me open and dissect me."

Brennan huffed and relented. "Fine, just a live examination and an interview. Can we go somewhere else, or will you burst into flames?" She added spitefully. Spike led her to one of the inner rooms and Booth followed, determined not to leave his Bones alone in this nut house.

They came back twenty minutes or so later. Booth sighed and looked at everyone evenly. "Bones is convinced, so am I. Doesn't mean I like it though."

Angel stared stonily back at his double. "Very few people do."

A/N: And that's a wrap! Woo hoo, chapter three done! Sorry for another bridge chapter, but now we can really get down to the good stuff. Although a have a certain fondness in my heart for the Buffy/Connor scene. Speaking of which: major prizes to anyone who can identify the very cleverly hidden Bones reference in that scene. And just so you can have something to look forward to: B/A and B/B in a couple of chapters! Stay tuned, and remember to review please! That's my fuel for the week with no new Bones episode comin' our way.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I know, it's been a long time since I updated this. I've had these chapters written for a long time, but didn't add them until Blackndeadly recommended that I do so. I just want to be clear: I don't feel like this idea or writing style is in me anymore, so I am NOT continuing the story. I am NOT writing anything new, although I had everything outlined. I hope you enjoy the few chapters of continuation of this story, and would welcome any feedback, even if it's some serious ranting about how annoying it is that I didn't update for approximately a thousand years. Also, please keep in mind that this story only follows canon up to the end of season 2.

Seeley Booth was humming, both literally and figuratively. There was just enough alcohol in his system to create a pleasant, numbing buzz. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew the name of this place, but he couldn't quite reach it. After the first night, Sid had cut him off and so for six days he had been hitting a different bar each night. He knew that people would be surprised to see him there: normal, well-adjusted, average Seeley Booth, FBI agent, burying his sorrows in the bottle? It was unthinkable. What most people didn't see was frightened, injured Seeley Booth, army sniper, who had been making more and more frequent appearances since he had met Angel. He had hid it from his Bones, knowing that if she found out what he was doing with his evenings she would be disappointed, to say the least. Speaking of Bones, her caller id had just come up on his cell phone.

"Yeah Bones?" he asked, trying to keep his words from slurring.

"Booth, uh… this is awkward…" she trailed off. Booth sat up straighter, puzzled over this because Bones was not an easily embarrassed person. She took a deep breath before continuing, her words sliding together. "I need you to comeoverhereandzipmydress."

"Huh?" he responded, trying to clear some of the beer-induced haze from his mind.

"I need you to um… zip up my dress for me."

"Is that a euphemism, or do you really mean…" he gestured even though she couldn't see him.

"No, I mean literally zip up my dress."

"Isn't that kind of a girl thing? Couldn't you call Angela, or ask one of your neighbors?"

"Do you have any idea how much my neighbors dislike me since Epps used their apartment to do his creepy serial killer stalking thing? And Angela has her gallery opening. You're supposed to be coming, remember?"

He had forgotten in the hazy blur of the past few days, but now he vaguely recalled a fancy invitation. "Oh yeah. So I'll come…zip you up and we'll go to the opening."

"Sure. See you soon." She hesitated, wanting this conversation to be over, but needing to tell him this. "Booth? You're a good friend." And with that she hung up.

Her last words froze him up. _Yeah, if you were such a good friend, you would have done this a week ago_, an inner voice taunted him. He sighed. It was inevitable; eventually he was going to do this, so better now than later, right? He took out his wallet and slipped out a piece of paper so worn from ten years of folding and unfolding that it resembled cotton now. Picking up his cell phone again, he dialed the number and counted six rings before an Irish accented voice picked up. "It's Seeley Booth. Danny gave me this number. And I just wanted to tell you…he's here."

The phone call, and his duty, done, Booth made his way out of the bar. Fifteen minutes later he arrived at Bones' place.

"Come in," she called from the kitchen in answer to his knock.

"Bones, you shouldn't leave your door unlocked like that. You didn't know that it was me at the door!"

She rolled her eyes at his overprotective nature. "I just called you, Booth. Who else would it be? Anyway, a rapist or a kidnapper probably wouldn't have knocked on the door. And if they had, I am completely capable of handling them myself!"

It was Booth's turn to roll his eyes. She had that smug tone of voice she got when she had won an argument with her infallible logic. "Whatever Bones. Just come in here and let me zip your dress so we can go."

"Fine, but you really have to stop being so bossy," she grumbled coming out of the kitchen, "it shows that you're not confident and need to control other people to feel powerful."

His back to her, he started to formulate a reply to the tune of "That's bull, Bones," but he turns around first, which is a mistake because all evolved thought whooshed right out of his head. All he could manage was a muttered "Wow, Bones…"

She smirked at him. "You'd think you'd never seen a dress, Booth."

"It's just," he whistled long and low, "THAT dress is just…wow."

She turned around and picked up her hair. "Okay, enough with the caveman act. Zip me up and we can go."

Memories of Vegas whizzing through his mind, Booth zipped her dress. When she turned to face him, he cast his about the room eyes for anything to take his mind off of the beautiful woman in front of him. His eyes landed on a file folder on her coffee table. "That for the case?" he asked, not recognizing it.

She suddenly looked uncomfortable. "No, it's a private project."

"What is it? Come on Bones, you can tell me," he pleaded, whipping out his charm smile. She couldn't resist.

"It's…I did a DNA test, comparing your DNA to Angel's. The results were…frustrating."

He felt his blood run cold. "Frustrating in what way?"

Brennan sighed deeply. "I was looking for a relationship or some kind of explanation for why you two looked so similar. But there was no DNA match. You and Angel are completely unrelated. I've been looking into the possibility of Prince Edward twins."

He forced another smile and, placing a hand on the small of her back, began leading her out to the car. "Know what Bones? Let's not talk about Angel tonight. How's your book going?"

"What are we doing here?"

Buffy took a moment to enjoy the look of Angel in the sunlight before answering lightly, "I'm pretty sure we're eating breakfast."

Angel sighed at her purposeful avoidance of his question. "No, I mean what are we now?"

"What do you want us to be?" she asked hesitantly.

"Would you stop talking in riddles?" he snapped and then ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. But I need some clarity. I left you, I hurt you, and yet here we are again. What are we doing? Are we dating or just," he paused, struggling to get the words out, "two people sleeping together?"

She reached across the table and gently grasped his hand. "You are my soulmate." She looked directly into his eyes. "It can never be just sex with us. So yes, we are boyfriend and girlfriend."

Any more conversation was cut off by Willow's entrance into their apartment.

"Good morning," she said in her chipper Willow way, "I just wanted to tell you, Angel, that we've assigned you a Slayer. Actually, since we don't have enough Watchers, you get double the Slayer love."

He tilted his head towards the blonde across the table from him. "I've already got all the Slayer love I need."

Willow grinned at him. "I never realized you were so disgustingly mushy."

He grinned back. "Well I had to be broody all the time, so there wasn't really much time for romance."

Buffy smiled lazily at him. "You did well enough."

Willow backed away, her hands raised defensively. "Okay, too much love." As she went out the door, she called over her shoulder. "Oh, Angel, Giselle and Rachel- three o'clock in the courtyard."

"Giselle is new from France." Buffy told him, "We thought it would be good to put her with someone who was fluent. She's a sweet girl. But Rachel…" she paused, looking pensive, "She's not a bad kid, but she's angry, Angel. Be careful."

"When did you get so wise and so worried?" he asked, not failing to notice her motherly tone as she talked about the other Slayers.

"When you weren't around to do it for me." Her tone was joking, but the underlying accusation was clear.  
***

Having been around for 250-plus years, Angel had seen a lot of artists come and go and had been able to perfect his own technique. Although he could have been an art history professor at any university, Angel had chosen to become an art therapist at a local rehab center. The job was very fulfilling, appealing to his talent and passion for art and his desire to be away from demons for at least part of the time. Out of all the jobs he had held, this was the first one from which he came home whistling.

He had been so caught up in his appointments that he was nearly late meeting with his Slayers. Humming, he changed into a loose pair of black pants and a gray t-shirt, bringing up memories of a much earlier time and a much younger Slayer. (Although he was pretty sure that this training session was unlikely to end in smoochies.) He jogged out of the apartment, glad that he and Buffy lived on campus so the courtyard was just a few minutes away.

When he got outside, two girls were waiting for him. One, a slender, pale brunette, was stretching in the grass. He looked on in approval; even a Slayer shouldn't go into a fight without stretching. The other girl was hidden in the shadows. All he coul make out was crossed arms and dark hair. As he stepped into the light from under the overhang, she came out to meet him. He put out a hand.

"Hi, I'm-"

"I know who you are," the shadowed girl hissed, "Angel, the vampire with a soul."

"Former," he told her seriously, "Former vampire. I've earned my redemption."

"Loopholes and prophesies," she spat, "Vampires don't get redeemed. They don't deserve it. They are evil. I fight evil. It's that simple."

He tossed her a stake. "If it's that simple, put that through my heart."

She paused and he nodded sagely. "It's not that easy to kill a human is it? That's good; means you have a conscience."

Rachel rushed him, shoving the stake sideways into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. "What do you know about conscience?" she whispered harshly in his ear before running off.

Giselle, the other girl came over to him. "Are you alright?" she asked in hesitant English.

"I'm fine," he told her, effortlessly switching to French to make her more comfortable. She responded in kind.

"I'm sorry about Rachel. She hates the demons more than most of us do."

"Do you know why?"

Giselle considered him for a moment before answering. "There is a rumor that her brother was killed by the vampires, but she won't talk about it so no one knows for sure."

Angel contemplated this. "I'll just have to show her that there are some gray areas between good and evil." He faced the Slayer beside him. "Do you agree with her? Do you think all demons deserve to die?"

"No," she answered steadily, "My aunt taught me that you must always examine a person's soul and not rely on what others have told you, or the general ways of their kind. I see that you have a good heart. That is all that matters."

Angel was awed at the depths this young woman showed. "Your aunt sounds like a very wise person."

"She is. She still lives in my hometown in France. I write to her often." Seeing Angel's surprise she smiled slightly, "Not all good people are doomed to die, you know."

"No, it's not that. It's just that this is not a conventional school."

"My aunt is a sorceress, so she knows of all that goes on here."

"Ahh," he nodded and then turned, "I'm going to follow Rachel, see if I can make things better between us."

"Be careful," was all Giselle replied.

"That's the second time someone's told me that today," he muttered and went to search for Rachel.

He found her beneath a tree in a secluded part of the campus. "Mind if I sit?" She jumped. "You didn't notice me? We're gonna have to work on that."

She didn't face him, just stared straight ahead. Angel tried again. "Look, like it or not, I'm your Watcher."

"I know," she finally said, "I already talked to Willow. She said no exchanges."

He frowned slightly, impressed. "You're fast." She allowed a small smile to flit across her face for a moment before it was gone. "I can make you faster."

Still not looking at him she said "Alright. But you'll just train me. I'm not into all that 'let's hug and share our feeling' crap."

"Okay," he shrugged, "Neither am I. I've been called brood boy more than once."

This time her smile lingered a little longer. "Brood boy, huh?"

"Yeah, not my best nickname." He glanced at his watch and stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He caught her tiny nod and smiled to himself. They would make progress.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I will post the last written chapter tomorrow night. After that, the outline can be sent to you upon request.

_Two weeks later..._

"Mmm... why didn't we ever do this before?" Buffy asked.

"Because I would have been burned to a crisp the second the sun rose." Angel answered, a chuckle rumbling through his chest.

Buffy sighed contentedly as she nuzzled closer, listening to his heart beat steadily beneath her ear. "I didn't think we'd end up this way."

"What way?"

"Perfect."

"Yeah." He responded. They were silent for a minute, watching the sky, and then he spoke again. "You know, I used to watch the sunrise when I was little. And then I chased off four tutors in half as many months and my father gave me such a hard whipping that I couldn't sit up for three days. After that, mornings were kind of synonymous with 'hangover'."

Buffy had been wanting to ask him a question and this seemed the perfect opportunity. "Angel..." she hesitated and then plunged on. "When you were in heaven, did you see them? Your family, I mean."

She felt the sigh in his chest beneath her as he answered. "Yes, I saw them and I said I was sorry for everything I had done to them. My mother and Kathy, they forgave me right away. I don't know why they did. I mean, I killed them both, the first thing I did. Sometimes I wonder about that. Gunn's sister tried to turn him so they could be together, Spike changed his mother, but the only thing I wanted to do with my family was kill them." Buffy could hear the tears in his voice. "Does that mean that my soul wasn't strong enough, couldn't love enough to bring them with me?"

She reached up to caress his face. "I think it means that your soul was strong to hold down the demon in you. If it wanted to hurt people that badly, your soul must have been very powerful to stand up to the bad in you for so long."

He kissed her palm; she always knew what to say. "Now I have a question for you." He also paused before asking. "Why did you wait?"

She turned her hand over and showed him the second finger of her left hand. "This," she responded simply as he gazed upon the small silver ring that rested there.

"H...how did you get it back?" he asked shakily. "I couldn't find yours or mine, not matter how hard I searched the mansion."

She smiled at him "I didn't find it. It found me."

_Three years ago..._

"We will be arriving at Los Angeles International Airport in a few minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts."

Buffy's sleep deprived mind muddled over why they called the airport LAX as she gathered her luggage and made her way to the airport hotel. Despite the long flight from Rome, she had not allowed herself to sleep. She told herself that she wanted to hold out until the jet lag took effect in her hotel room, but that wasn't the real reason. Her nails were ragged from the biting she had done as she sat in her seat worrying. What if she was walking around, rounding up Slayers or fighting a new big bad, and they ran into each other? It certainly wouldn't be the first time. So no sleep for Buffy.

She made her exhausted way up to her room and over to the bed. As she was about to collapse onto it, she saw two tiny shiny things glinting amongst the bedclothes. Assuming they were mints, she reached to tuck them into her pocket. But her hand paused as she realized what they were: rings that she hadn't seen for six years now. The nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach that she had attributed to plane sickness grew stronger. Her hand continued the journey to the rings and in one swift motion she put hers on, heart facing inwards. She knew that she was in a relationship, she knew that one had just ended quite messily, but she somehow didn't care. Buffy had thought that putting the ring on would calm her, but it only alarmed her more as it tightened around her finger so that no amount of tugging would free it. And then she knew. Buffy whipped out her phone, glad of the Sunnydale memorial that was taking place later that week that had the whole gang back in town.

"Faith, it's Buffy. I need you to help me with something."

_Present_

"So that's how you knew that I was in trouble. But how did you know I wasn't just dead?"

"The morning after the battle, the ring still wouldn't come off. And it was gold. It stayed golden and on my finger until two weeks ago. The morning you came back, it slipped off my finger while I was teaching and when I picked it up, it was normal again. I went to get Connor. By the time Illyria called, I knew something had happened. I knew you were back...or you were dead."

"But while I was gone... you know I would have wanted you to move on, to find someone new."

Buffy smiled sadly. "That's what everyone kept saying. They didn't really believe that you were alive, but they pretended for my sake. Regardless, they kept setting me up on dates, trying to get me to go out. I did it a couple of times before I remembered why the whole 'normal life' thing didn't work for me. What if I met someone that I really liked and we got married and he wanted to come see my work? What was he going to say about the stakes and axes on the walls of the "boarding school"?"

"But Spike was here and alive." Angel allowed a laugh to slip out. "Well, as alive as he can be. He would have understood. Why didn't you try to... start again where you left off?"

"We did," Buffy's eyes filled with tears as she confessed.

_Two years ago..._

The rest of the team was out, so Spike and Buffy were alone. Spike had, of course, insisted on watching Passions and she was teasing him about (again), when he had suddenly leaned over and kissed her. And she let him. She let herself fall away from the pain and into that spiral of forgetfulness. One hand reached up into his hair, tangling in it, and the other reached behind his back.

The situation might have escalated, but Spike pulled back.

"Jesus, Slayer! Were you aiming to destroy my hair?" He extracted her hand from his hair and they examined it to see what his hair had gotten caught on. The bottom dropped out of her stomach as she saw the ring glinting accusingly up at her. She pushed herself away from Spike, to the far end of the couch.

He had smiled sadly at her. "That's alright, luv," he told her. "I guess I knew that Peaches would be breaking us up from beyond the grave."

That was the last time they had tried to resume their relationship. Buffy knew that she couldn't pretend anymore.

_Present_

"I tried so hard to forget you, Angel," Buffy sobbed into his shirt. "I tried to move on, with Riley, with Spike. But you were always there, even when you had Cordelia."

"I know. It was the same for me." He replied, sniffling a little himself. "Lorne and Fred told me that Cordy and I had kyrumption, some Pylean soulmate thing, and I believed them. I wanted to love her because I couldn't be hung up on you anymore, because," he laughed dryly at the irony, "you had moved on. But Cordelia was there. It would have been so _easy _to love her. She was my best friend, always loyal. Doyle's death and facing death on a daily basis bonded us. She always told it like it was. And I felt like I had helped make her into a better person. Maybe all that added up to love, but...it's like you and Spike: she was in my heart, but you still own my soul."

"It was just... I thought you didn't love me as much as I loved you. When you left, you just went, like it wasn't a big deal for you. Like you didn't care."

"Like I didn't care?" Angel said bitterly. "Did you think I just swept into LA and started up Angel Investigations? Buffy, I sat in a sewer tunnel for three days, listening to 'Mandy' and 'I Will Survive' on repeat before I could get up. You were the only light in a hundred years of torment, and I had left you. I had to give my keys to a demon for a few days so I wouldn't just turn around and drive back to you. I think that's where I learned my self-control. I never seemed to have that before, at least when it came to you." He chuckled humorlessly. "I think that you got the better end of the deal, actually. You had friends, people you could turn to, people to live for. I had no one. Once again I was alone, like I always am."

She pulled his face down to her level. "Not anymore." They were silent for a minute more before she spoke again. "You didn't tell me. Did you meet your father in heaven?"

He tensed. "Yes. I went to him every day for a year to apologize. He wouldn't talk to me until the day before I went to fight Angelus. Then he yelled at me for a while, but eventually I got him to realize that he had no reason to. He wasn't angry for what Angelus had done to him, he was angry at Liam. When he saw that I was ashamed at who I was, he...he told me that he was proud of me. And it meant a lot."

She mulled this over as the first rays of sunlight began to peek over the horizon and then he tentatively asked another question. "Are you cookies?"

"Huh?" she asked, puzzled.

He blushed, which she made her add another thing to the list of things that she had missed out on while Angel was a vampire. "Um, are you cookies yet? Has the cookie dough baked?"

A grin began to form on her face. "Why? Do you want to enjoy cookie-me?"

The corners of his mouth turned up in response. "Would you be really grossed out if I said yes?"

"No. Actually I would be very angry if you said no." They smiled at each other before Buffy turned serious. "Angel, I never wanted you to stay away. It was easier, but when you're around...I need you in my life Angel. I can't live without you anymore."

He looked steadily at her. "You won't have to."

The sun rose behind them as they kissed, welcoming in a new day.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"I don't understand why we have to do this!"

"Hey, I let you pick the movie!"

"And I picked Sea Monster's 3D at the Museum of Natural History IMAX."

"Bones, that's not a movie, that's a freak show in a theater."

"It's both informative and entertaining."

"So is Juno." Brennan looked at him skeptically. "What? It entertains, and it informs people about teenage mothers and about the dangers of unprotected sex and…um about comedy."

"It informs people about comedy?"

"Look Bones, it's supposed to be funny and touching and it's up for about a million awards. Just about everyone in America over the age of sixteen has seen it, so I think we should also." They paused in their bickering to buy tickets. Bones reached for her wallet to pay for her ticket, but Booth stayed her hand. "I've got this one Bones."

"Alpha male," she muttered, and then spoke louder. "Fine, but I'm getting refreshments." She strode over to the snack bar and bought a large popcorn and soda. At the last minute, she remembered Booth's sweet tooth and bought a package of Snow Caps as well. Booth rolled his eyes as he watched her. She was trying to make this not a date just as much as he was trying to make it one. He joined her and they made their way to theater eight.

It was dark and Booth bumped into Bones as they walked into the crowded theater. Without consulting each other, they decided on two seats seven rows from the back. As the movie started, Booth leaned over and breathed in Brennan's ear "Why did you only get one soda?"

She fought down a blush and whispered back. "One large soda was cheaper than two small sodas."

"Why'd you get three straws?"

"I always drink using two straws."

Even in the darkness, Brennan could make out Booth's expressions as they danced across his face: confusion, a raised eyebrow at her peculiarities and then a calm endearment: "Only you Bones."

An hour and a half later they exited the theater, each contemplating the movie. Juno had reminded Booth a lot of his Bones. They shared the same upfront manner, although Juno was more up to date on pop culture. Tempe was occupied with the scene between Juno and her father. She had loved seeing them together, the way he was uncomfortable that she had grown up right in front of him, but how they still loved each other and talked together. It made her tear up, thinking of her own father and how they never just talked that way. Most of the time she felt that they only shared their past selves, but they were no longer those same people. She did not know him anymore just as he didn't know her, and she hated that. But beyond the father-daughter element of the scene, she also thought of something Juno's father had said about love and staying together forever: "The best thing that you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly who you are." She shivered. The quote reminded her of Booth immediately, and what bothered her most was that she was not particularly bothered by the thought of Booth loving her.

The man in question saw his partner shiver and wrapped an arm around her. She leaned against him instinctively and they walked together.

"You know, Booth, we should go to the movies more often."

He smiled into her hair. "We should, Bones. We definitely should."

A/N: Can I hear an awwwww? Actually, what I'd really like to hear is a million buttons being pressed simultaneously around the world. So do your part: press that button.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry I didn't post this earlier as I'd promised, but it's been years, so what's a few more days. Enjoy, although it's the last full one.

The man sat in his car and wished he'd bought one with more leg room. Of course, when he had purchased it comfort during a stakeout had not been a criterion. Neither was inconspicuousness during said stakeout. Instead of the cliché black car or even a dark green or navy one, he had picked bright red. His girlfriend called it the 'early midlife crisis vehicle'.

In addition to being uncomfortable, he was also bored out of his skull. The apartment he was supposed to be watching was so dark and silent that he checked the address again to make sure he was in the right place. It still said the same thing:

Dr. Temperance Brennan

415 Elmsworth NW

Washington, DC

He took a swig of his coffee, grimacing as he realized that it had become cold and clotted. He dropped it back into the cupholder, splashing a few droplets over the sides, and reclined his seat. He might as well be comfortable while he spied on this completely empty apartment.

Or maybe not so empty. The lights had turned on and he could see four figures, all women, through the glass. Maybe now something would actually begin to happen.

_Earlier..._

Temperance Brennan loved her best friend, she really did. But there was only so much bothering she could take.

"Angela, I'll make it up to you later."

"Brennan, please?" Angela's voice became cajoling as she flopped down in front of her friend's desk. "You skipped out on our girls' day, so now we have to have a girls' _night_."

"I'm not in the mood to go out and get drunk tonight."

"You just don't want me to designate Booth as our driver like I did last time," Angela said with a grin that suggested that perhaps she already needed a designated driver herself. "But fine, we'll stay in. We'll go to your place and eat ice cream and watch romantic movies."

Brennan glanced at the pile of reports that she really should be doing. Then she looked up at Angela's pleading face...and her sharp grinning teeth.

"Alright," she acquiesced.

"Great!" Angela bounded toward the the door, calling over her shoulder, "Meet by the lab entrance at 5 o'clock and not a second later. I mean it, Bren. Don't make me come up here to get you. I'm going to go invite Buffy and Willow so it will be a real party. Get ready to play Truth or Dare!"

"Wait, you just said romantic movies!" Brennan yelled after her. She leaned back in her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose. She just hoped that the dares wouldn't involve anything that would get her kicked out of her apartment building. It never occurred to her to worry about what truths she might be asked to tell.

Booth arrived an hour and a half before Angela's dictated meeting time.

"Hey, Bones," he mumbled through a mouthful of Snicker's bar, before swallowing. "Here's the file on the Phillip's case. Give it a quick look-through, we're going to trial next week on Wednesday." He turned to walk out of the office, tossing a "see you later" over his shoulder.

"Booth, wait." She strode after him. "Are you sure we shouldn't go over the file together? Now?"

"Nope," he managed while chewing, "You know this one backwards and forwards."

"Well, feel free to call me tonight. Any time. For paperwork or a case or-or anything, really."

Booth couldn't contain his smile any longer. "You're trying to get out of plans with Angela," he stated.

"Yes," she admitted defeatedly.

"She's your best friend," he reminded her, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, and even I can't control her." She leaned back against a wall, letting her head fall back with a slight thud. She pulled a deep sigh into her lungs. "We're having a slumber party at my apartment. With Buffy and Willow."

Booth snorted. "No way in hell you own a copy of Sleepless in Seattle."

"Why would I? I live in Washington." She looked up at him in confusion that turned to concern as she noticed the shadows under his eyes for the first time.

"Are you okay, Booth?"

He chewed up the last bite of his candy bar and turned away from her, tossing out the wrapper. "Okay? Yeah, sure, I'm fine."

Brennan almost pushed, almost asked him if he was positive that he was alright. But then she thought about the balance of their relationship: he was on the feelings side and she was the rational one. She knew nothing about other people's emotions, while he was always gauging them, investigating them. "If you're sure," she said.

"Yeah. Listen, have a good time tonight.

Brennan was the last to reach the meeting place. Luckily, the other women were chatting quite amicably.

"Ready to go?" Angela seemed positively giddy.

The women walked out to the parking lot. Realizing that they couldn't just leave their cars in the parking lot overnight, they all drove to Brennan's apartment together. They met again in the lobby of the building and took the stairs up to the fourth floor. Brennan unlocked her door and turned on the lights.

"Nice place," Buffy commented politely.

"Thanks." Brennan wiped her hands nervously on her jeans. "Um, there's a guest room, but it only sleeps two, so I guess we can set up some air mattresses in the living room."

Twenty minutes later, the previously immaculate apartment was a true slumber party zone. All four women were laid out in their pajamas on air mattresses. How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days was playing in the background (courtesy of Angela's DVD and portable DVD player) but none of them were watching.

"Definitely burgundy," Angela pronounced, uncapping the bottle of nail polish and beginning to paint Buffy's toes.

"Is it time for truth or dare?" Willow asked, bouncing a little and reminding her best friend of their teenage years.

"Yes!" Angela's grin was huge. "You can go first."

Willow looked to the person to her right. "Truth or dare, um..." She trailed off, not knowing what to call the uncomfortable looking doctor.

"Temperance, or Tempe," Brennan provided. "And I pick dare."

"Ok, Tempe," Willow nodded. "I dare you to do the "is your refrigerator running" joke on your grumpiest neighbor."

"I don't know what that means."

A few minutes later, she did and Mr. Jenkins in 14G was getting a rude call from a woman with a very strange accent. The other women sat by, giggling helplessly, as Brennan hung up and looked at them furiously.

"That was humiliating. I think he knew it was me. He will definitely mention it the next time we're picking up mail at the same time."

"Sorry, sorry," Willow gasped. "It's your turn."

To Brennan's right was Buffy. She anticipated the question and blurted out truth before she was asked.

Brennan's brow furrowed. "What is the most interesting demon you've ever had to face."

Buffy considered. She had thought it would be something related to her supernatural life, but interesting was such a broad term. "I suppose..." She answered slowly, "I'd have to say Sweets, the demon that made everyone sing. And we weren't half bad."

Brennan tilted her head. "Interesting," was her only response, although it was obvious that her brain was working furiously.

"Ok, Angela, truth or dare?"

Angela paused in her toenail painting to think. "I'm feeling adventurous. Let's try a dare."

"Ok," Buffy looked downright dangerous with that smirk on her face. "Go out into the hall. You have to ask the first person you see if they'll mind rubbing lotion on your back."

Angela made a face and stood. At the door, she turned to Brennan. "You'd tell me if any of your neighbors were sleazy old people, right?"

Brennan looked speculative. "Depends. How old is old?"

Angela looked faintly ill. "Here goes..." She opened the door.

A small iron-colored spherical object landed at her feet. It started emitting gray smoke into the apartment. The next second, two figures covered fully in black slipped through the door. They knocked Angela out immediately upon entry. Brennan tried to move to help her friend, but the smoke seemed to be some sort of chemical and she found herself falling numbly to the ground as well.

"There's no sweet smell. It can't be chloroform..." she thought before she lay unconscious next to Buffy and Willow.

SC  
SC  
SC  
Seeley Booth was pretty sure he deserved a medal. He was going to rescue his Bones, even if it meant facing a fate scarier than death: the wrath of Angela Montenegro upon being cheated out of girl time with her best friend.

A fate scarier than that occurred to him as he approached Bones' door only to see it ajar with a faint hint of smoke curling out. He picked up the pace and covered his face with his jacket sleeve as he crashed shoulder-first into the door. With his momentum, he nearly tripped over Angela. She stirred as he went around opening windows. The smoke dissipated quickly, leaving the two (_two! Why the hell are there only two? Where's Bones?_) women to groan themselves awake. When they were seated comfortably on the couch with mugs of cocoa, Booth started shooting the questions that he desperately needed answers to. Unfortunately, neither Willow nor Angela could provide very useful information.

"They took Bones. Angela, has she been working on any cases lately? Anything weird or potentially dangerous?"

"No," Angela shook her fogged up head, her voice teary. "The weirdest case she worked on lately was..." Her eyes met Willow's.

"Angel's case." Booth's voice seemed not to be coming from his body.

"It must have something to do with Angel's case," Willow said from his other side. "They took Buffy also."

"We need to call him," Booth admitted hollowly and drew out his cell phone to call a man he never wanted to speak to.

A/N: So, it leaves off at a little bit of a cliffhanger. Sorry about that. You can request an outline of the planned final three chapters by PMing me. I hope you enjoyed it anyway.


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